Fiji records first Zika case

Fiji's health authorities have recorded the island country's first Zika case, local newspaper Fiji Sun reported Wednesday.

Jone Usamate, Fiji's minister for health and medical services, told the newspaper that the Zika infection case was recorded in Fiji's west division, and the female patient had already been treated.

"We are advising people to take preventive measures like destroying all breeding places for mosquitoes. Zika has been found in our neighbouring islands like Samoa and Tonga," Usamate said, adding that a program to raise awareness on Zika to help Fijians understand the disease is ongoing.

Symptoms of infection of the Zika virus, which is spread to humans through mosquito bites, include fever, joint pain, rash, conjunctivitis, headache and muscle pain. Endit